Topic: Contemporary Artists: Reimagining the Four Freedoms

Since the time of the Enlightenment, philosophers and activists have contemplated the nature of liberty and its associated responsibilities. Building on those ideas, President Franklin D. Roosevelt presented a particularly ambitious characterization of liberty when, in his 1941 Annual Message to Congress, he argued that Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear should be accepted as human rights not only in the United States, but “everywhere in the world.”

As public dialogue becomes increasingly discordant, the very notion of the common good, and of civic engagement and civil discourse, is called into question. Are the Four Freedoms, as articulated by President Roosevelt and interpreted by artist Norman Rockwell in The Saturday Evening Post, still relevant as organizing principles of civil society, or are they now reflective of a bygone era?

Inspired by the legacies of Roosevelt and Rockwell, Reimagining the Four Freedoms is a juried exhibition inviting contemporary artists to consider two questions:

How might notions of freedom, as presented by Roosevelt and Rockwell during the World War II era, be reinterpreted for our times? What does freedom look like today?

This installation represents the diverse spectrum of responses received from artists across the nation and in Canada. Their compelling artworks in all media give voice to their observations and concerns about freedoms found and lost in our times.Read the Press Release for Reimagining the Four Freedoms

Additional materials in the exhibit have been drawn from the digital collections of the Library of Congress (LC), the National Archives (NARA), the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library (FDRL), and the United Nations (UN), and items have also been drawn from the Roosevelt House collection (RH).

The Ford Foundation supported the competition for Reimagining the Four Freedoms.

Leadership support for Rockwell, Roosevelt & the Four Freedoms is provided by Jay Alix, The Alix Foundation and the George Lucas Family Foundation.

Who Are We The People?

Robyn
Phillips-Pendleton examines questions of American identity and inclusiveness
for people of different races, cultures, and religions who seek the ideals of
freedom reflected in Roosevelt’s words and Rockwell’s imagery. Associate
Professor of Visual Communications at University of Delaware, Newark,
Phillips-Pendleton has worked as a graphic designer and illustrator, creating
imagery for institutions, magazines, and books. A United States Air Force
Artist, she has been commissioned to create paintings featuring the activities
of the armed forces, including their work in Haiti following a catastrophic
earthquake.

Robyn Philllips-Pendleton Who Are We The People?, 2018 Oil and Casein on Claybord Collection of the artist

Arrested: Avoider of Fines

Daisy Rockwell grew up in a family of artists in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. A granddaughter of Norman Rockwell, she is a scholar of South Asian literature who is fluent in Urdu. She grew up painting and continued to make art through her college years, but stopped when she went to graduate school. When she returned to New England after working in academia at the University of California, Berkley, she began painting again, developing series like Arrested to spur public dialogue and give voice to the incarcerated—particularly women—who strive to be heard.
“This set of paintings is a continuation of my work on ancient Indian rasa theory, a study that began with an exploration of the notion of terrorism and the war on terror, a battle ostensibly being waged against the emotion of fear,” the artist said. “As part of the war against terrorism, Americans are urged to feel frightened and suspicious of others, rather than free of fear, as in Roosevelt’s, and Rockwell’s, formulation.” Rasa means essence, and Sanskrit aestheticians delineated eight or nine of these essential moods, which are found in the arts. In these works, it is up to the viewer to decide what mood each woman is experiencing.
“I’ve done paintings of politicians and dictators, and there are thou-sands of pictures of these people on the Internet,” said the artist. “But for these women, there was hardly anything. Their lives were only scantily doc-umented.” Drawn from photographic police records, her subjects confront the viewer directly in works that resemble Mughal miniatures, the tiny, gem-like illustrations produced in South Asia from 16th to the 19th cen-turies. Rockwell is the author of The Little Book of Terror and Taste. Her translation of Upendranath Ashk’s novel, Girti Divarein, was published as Falling Walls, and she has also translated the works of Hindi writer Bhisham Sahni, among others.

Arrested: Irresponsible Driver

Daisy Rockwell grew up in a family of artists in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. A granddaughter of Norman Rockwell, she is a scholar of South Asian literature who is fluent in Urdu. She grew up painting and continued to make art through her college years, but stopped when she went to graduate school. When she returned to New England after working in academia at the University of California, Berkley, she began painting again, developing series like Arrested to spur public dialogue and give voice to the incarcerated—particularly women—who strive to be heard.
“This set of paintings is a continuation of my work on ancient Indian rasa theory, a study that began with an exploration of the notion of terrorism and the war on terror, a battle ostensibly being waged against the emotion of fear,” the artist said. “As part of the war against terrorism, Americans are urged to feel frightened and suspicious of others, rather than free of fear, as in Roosevelt’s, and Rockwell’s, formulation.” Rasa means essence, and Sanskrit aestheticians delineated eight or nine of these essential moods, which are found in the arts. In these works, it is up to the viewer to decide what mood each woman is experiencing.
“I’ve done paintings of politicians and dictators, and there are thou-sands of pictures of these people on the Internet,” said the artist. “But for these women, there was hardly anything. Their lives were only scantily doc-umented.” Drawn from photographic police records, her subjects confront the viewer directly in works that resemble Mughal miniatures, the tiny, gem-like illustrations produced in South Asia from 16th to the 19th cen-turies. Rockwell is the author of The Little Book of Terror and Taste. Her translation of Upendranath Ashk’s novel, Girti Divarein, was published as Falling Walls, and she has also translated the works of Hindi writer Bhisham Sahni, among others.

Arrested: Fraudster

Daisy Rockwell grew up in a family of artists in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. A granddaughter of Norman Rockwell, she is a scholar of South Asian literature who is fluent in Urdu. She grew up painting and continued to make art through her college years, but stopped when she went to graduate school. When she returned to New England after working in academia at the University of California, Berkley, she began painting again, developing series like Arrested to spur public dialogue and give voice to the incarcerated—particularly women—who strive to be heard.
“This set of paintings is a continuation of my work on ancient Indian rasa theory, a study that began with an exploration of the notion of terrorism and the war on terror, a battle ostensibly being waged against the emotion of fear,” the artist said. “As part of the war against terrorism, Americans are urged to feel frightened and suspicious of others, rather than free of fear, as in Roosevelt’s, and Rockwell’s, formulation.” Rasa means essence, and Sanskrit aestheticians delineated eight or nine of these essential moods, which are found in the arts. In these works, it is up to the viewer to decide what mood each woman is experiencing.
“I’ve done paintings of politicians and dictators, and there are thou-sands of pictures of these people on the Internet,” said the artist. “But for these women, there was hardly anything. Their lives were only scantily doc-umented.” Drawn from photographic police records, her subjects confront the viewer directly in works that resemble Mughal miniatures, the tiny, gem-like illustrations produced in South Asia from 16th to the 19th cen-turies. Rockwell is the author of The Little Book of Terror and Taste. Her translation of Upendranath Ashk’s novel, Girti Divarein, was published as Falling Walls, and she has also translated the works of Hindi writer Bhisham Sahni, among others.

Arrested: Parolee

Daisy Rockwell grew up in a family of artists in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. A granddaughter of Norman Rockwell, she is a scholar of South Asian literature who is fluent in Urdu. She grew up painting and continued to make art through her college years, but stopped when she went to graduate school. When she returned to New England after working in academia at the University of California, Berkley, she began painting again, developing series like Arrested to spur public dialogue and give voice to the incarcerated—particularly women—who strive to be heard.
“This set of paintings is a continuation of my work on ancient Indian rasa theory, a study that began with an exploration of the notion of terrorism and the war on terror, a battle ostensibly being waged against the emotion of fear,” the artist said. “As part of the war against terrorism, Americans are urged to feel frightened and suspicious of others, rather than free of fear, as in Roosevelt’s, and Rockwell’s, formulation.” Rasa means essence, and Sanskrit aestheticians delineated eight or nine of these essential moods, which are found in the arts. In these works, it is up to the viewer to decide what mood each woman is experiencing.
“I’ve done paintings of politicians and dictators, and there are thou-sands of pictures of these people on the Internet,” said the artist. “But for these women, there was hardly anything. Their lives were only scantily doc-umented.” Drawn from photographic police records, her subjects confront the viewer directly in works that resemble Mughal miniatures, the tiny, gem-like illustrations produced in South Asia from 16th to the 19th cen-turies. Rockwell is the author of The Little Book of Terror and Taste. Her translation of Upendranath Ashk’s novel, Girti Divarein, was published as Falling Walls, and she has also translated the works of Hindi writer Bhisham Sahni, among others.

Arrested: Sex Offender

Daisy Rockwell grew up in a family of artists in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. A granddaughter of Norman Rockwell, she is a scholar of South Asian literature who is fluent in Urdu. She grew up painting and continued to make art through her college years, but stopped when she went to graduate school. When she returned to New England after working in academia at the University of California, Berkley, she began painting again, developing series like Arrested to spur public dialogue and give voice to the incarcerated—particularly women—who strive to be heard.
“This set of paintings is a continuation of my work on ancient Indian rasa theory, a study that began with an exploration of the notion of terrorism and the war on terror, a battle ostensibly being waged against the emotion of fear,” the artist said. “As part of the war against terrorism, Americans are urged to feel frightened and suspicious of others, rather than free of fear, as in Roosevelt’s, and Rockwell’s, formulation.” Rasa means essence, and Sanskrit aestheticians delineated eight or nine of these essential moods, which are found in the arts. In these works, it is up to the viewer to decide what mood each woman is experiencing.
“I’ve done paintings of politicians and dictators, and there are thou-sands of pictures of these people on the Internet,” said the artist. “But for these women, there was hardly anything. Their lives were only scantily doc-umented.” Drawn from photographic police records, her subjects confront the viewer directly in works that resemble Mughal miniatures, the tiny, gem-like illustrations produced in South Asia from 16th to the 19th cen-turies. Rockwell is the author of The Little Book of Terror and Taste. Her translation of Upendranath Ashk’s novel, Girti Divarein, was published as Falling Walls, and she has also translated the works of Hindi writer Bhisham Sahni, among others.

Arrested: Possessor and Obstructer

Daisy Rockwell grew up in a family of artists in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. A granddaughter of Norman Rockwell, she is a scholar of South Asian literature who is fluent in Urdu. She grew up painting and continued to make art through her college years, but stopped when she went to graduate school. When she returned to New England after working in academia at the University of California, Berkley, she began painting again, developing series like Arrested to spur public dialogue and give voice to the incarcerated—particularly women—who strive to be heard.
“This set of paintings is a continuation of my work on ancient Indian rasa theory, a study that began with an exploration of the notion of terrorism and the war on terror, a battle ostensibly being waged against the emotion of fear,” the artist said. “As part of the war against terrorism, Americans are urged to feel frightened and suspicious of others, rather than free of fear, as in Roosevelt’s, and Rockwell’s, formulation.” Rasa means essence, and Sanskrit aestheticians delineated eight or nine of these essential moods, which are found in the arts. In these works, it is up to the viewer to decide what mood each woman is experiencing.
“I’ve done paintings of politicians and dictators, and there are thou-sands of pictures of these people on the Internet,” said the artist. “But for these women, there was hardly anything. Their lives were only scantily doc-umented.” Drawn from photographic police records, her subjects confront the viewer directly in works that resemble Mughal miniatures, the tiny, gem-like illustrations produced in South Asia from 16th to the 19th cen-turies. Rockwell is the author of The Little Book of Terror and Taste. Her translation of Upendranath Ashk’s novel, Girti Divarein, was published as Falling Walls, and she has also translated the works of Hindi writer Bhisham Sahni, among others.

Arrested: Intoxicated Driver

Daisy Rockwell grew up in a family of artists in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. A granddaughter of Norman Rockwell, she is a scholar of South Asian literature who is fluent in Urdu. She grew up painting and continued to make art through her college years, but stopped when she went to graduate school. When she returned to New England after working in academia at the University of California, Berkley, she began painting again, developing series like Arrested to spur public dialogue and give voice to the incarcerated—particularly women—who strive to be heard.
“This set of paintings is a continuation of my work on ancient Indian rasa theory, a study that began with an exploration of the notion of terrorism and the war on terror, a battle ostensibly being waged against the emotion of fear,” the artist said. “As part of the war against terrorism, Americans are urged to feel frightened and suspicious of others, rather than free of fear, as in Roosevelt’s, and Rockwell’s, formulation.” Rasa means essence, and Sanskrit aestheticians delineated eight or nine of these essential moods, which are found in the arts. In these works, it is up to the viewer to decide what mood each woman is experiencing.
“I’ve done paintings of politicians and dictators, and there are thou-sands of pictures of these people on the Internet,” said the artist. “But for these women, there was hardly anything. Their lives were only scantily doc-umented.” Drawn from photographic police records, her subjects confront the viewer directly in works that resemble Mughal miniatures, the tiny, gem-like illustrations produced in South Asia from 16th to the 19th cen-turies. Rockwell is the author of The Little Book of Terror and Taste. Her translation of Upendranath Ashk’s novel, Girti Divarein, was published as Falling Walls, and she has also translated the works of Hindi writer Bhisham Sahni, among others.

Arrested: Contemptuous Larcenist

Daisy Rockwell grew up in a family of artists in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. A granddaughter of Norman Rockwell, she is a scholar of South Asian literature who is fluent in Urdu. She grew up painting and continued to make art through her college years, but stopped when she went to graduate school. When she returned to New England after working in academia at the University of California, Berkley, she began painting again, developing series like Arrested to spur public dialogue and give voice to the incarcerated—particularly women—who strive to be heard. “This set of paintings is a continuation of my work on ancient Indian rasa theory, a study that began with an exploration of the notion of terrorism and the war on terror, a battle ostensibly being waged against the emotion of fear,” the artist said. “As part of the war against terrorism, Americans are urged to feel frightened and suspicious of others, rather than free of fear, as in Roosevelt’s, and Rockwell’s, formulation.” Rasa means essence, and Sanskrit aestheticians delineated eight or nine of these essential moods, which are found in the arts. In these works, it is up to the viewer to decide what mood each woman is experiencing. “I’ve done paintings of politicians and dictators, and there are thou-sands of pictures of these people on the Internet,” said the artist. “But for these women, there was hardly anything. Their lives were only scantily doc-umented.” Drawn from photographic police records, her subjects confront the viewer directly in works that resemble Mughal miniatures, the tiny, gem-like illustrations produced in South Asia from 16th to the 19th cen-turies. Rockwell is the author of The Little Book of Terror and Taste. Her translation of Upendranath Ashk’s novel, Girti Divarein, was published as Falling Walls, and she has also translated the works of Hindi writer Bhisham Sahni, among others.

Freedom from What?

In 2015, Maurice ‘Pops’ Peterson debuted Reinventing Rockwell, a series of artworks reimagining iconic paintings by the famed American illustrator for today’s times. Celebrating diversity and exploring the evolution of gender roles and shifting notions of sexuality, the series includes this piece, which takes inspiration from Rockwell’s Freedom from Fear. Like Rockwell, Peterson enlisted neighbors and friends as models, and utilized the newspaper in the father’s hand to call attention to his theme. The headline refers to a July 2014 incident, when Eric Garner, an unarmed African American man, died while being held in a choke hold by police. Garner’s last words, “I can’t breathe,” were repeated several times and captured on video. An award-winning artist, designer, and writer, Peterson was named the first Artist in Residence of the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination.

We the People

On February 19, 1942, more than a year after his Four Freedoms speech, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 authorizing the internment of people of Japanese descent. By June of that year, more than 120,000 people of all ages has been relocated to remote internment camps. “My grandparents were among those citizens interned for three years,” illustrating the complications and contradictions inherent in American life, noted Sara Dilliplane of Boston, Massachusetts. This animation short illustrates the emotional landscape of recent political events, “a kaleidoscope of modern interpretations of the Four Freedoms, where in the space between our ideals and reality, the potential of hope persists.”

Four Freedoms Today

Tim Needles video presents forty opinions on the state of the Four Freedoms today. The artist invited a diverse group of residents to offer their thoughts, which he captured first-hand. “A range of interpretations are represented,” notes Needles, who invited contemporary consideration of Roosevelt’s ideals. An award-winning artist and educator from Port Jefferson, New York, he has taught art and media for twenty years.